Magazines
04.10.
National Lampoon
National Lampoon was a ground-breaking American humor magazine. Its success led to a wide range of media productions associated with the magazine’s brand name. The magazine ran from 1970 to 1998, and started out as a spinoff from the Harvard Lampoon.
The magazine reached its height of popularity and critical acclaim during the 1970s, when it had a far-reaching effect on American humor. It spawned films, radio, live theatre, various kinds of recordings, and print products including books. Many members of the creative staff from the magazine subsequently went on to contribute creatively to successful media of all types.
During the magazine’s most successful years, parody of every kind was a mainstay; surrealist content was also central to its appeal. Almost all the issues included long text pieces, shorter written pieces, a section of actual news items (dubbed “True Facts”), cartoons and comic strips. Most issues also included “Foto Funnies” or fumetti, which often featured nudity. The result was an unusual mix of intelligent, cutting-edge wit, and crass, bawdy frat house jesting. In both cases, National Lampoon humor often pushed far beyond the boundaries of what was generally considered appropriate and acceptable. As co-founder Henry Beard described the experience years later: “There was this big door that said, ‘Thou shalt not.’ We touched it, and it fell off its hinges.”
The magazine declined during the late 1980s and never recovered. It was kept alive minimally, but ceased publication altogether in 1998.
No Comments03.18.
Disney Adventures
Disney Adventures was a children’s entertainment and educational magazine published ten times per year by The Walt Disney Company. It should not be confused with the (also defunct) Disney Magazine. Disney Adventures also contained the latest news concerning the Disney Channel. The first issue was dated November 12, 1990, and featured Rick Moranis on the cover.
No Comments08.01.
YM
YM was an American teen magazine that began in 1932. It was published for 72 years and was the second-oldest girls’ magazine (the oldest being Seventeen) in the United States. YM got its start as two magazines in the 1930s—Compact, which was aimed at older teens, and Calling All Girls, which was intended for younger girls and pioneered the signature embarrassing-moments column, “Say Anything”. By the late 1960s, the publications merged into Young Miss, a small digest-sized mag. In the 1960s the size was increased and the 1980s saw still another title change (this time to Young & Modern) under Bonnie Fuller’s direction as editor-in-chief. The final title change came in 2000 (this time to Your Magazine), though the abbreviation “YM” was the title by which it was commonly referred. In early 2002, then Editor-in-Chief Christina Kelly announced that the magazine would no longer run articles about dieting. YM ceased publication in 2004, with the December–January issue featuring Usher. Subscribers received Teen Vogue subscriptions in replacement.
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